Safaricom, Orange Kenya: A new round of price battle looms

Orange Kenya Chief Executive Officer Mickael Ghossein. [PHOTO: FILE/STANDARD

Kenya: Telkom Kenya (Orange) has returned to the air a controversial advertising campaign in a move that could easily be interpreted as taking the fight to Safaricom.

The campaign that compares Orange’s pricing to that of its competition has already rubbed Safaricom the wrong way.

The advert dubbed “Do You Know” compares Orange’s pricing to that of Safaricom. The graphic ad shows Safaricom’s per minute calling rate being up to a 100 per cent more expensive. The campaign that was intended to help the firm grow subscriber numbers with the low cost appeal, however, rubbed Safaricom the wrong way, forcing it to lodge a complaint to Advertising Standards Committee (ASC) through advertising agency Scanad.

Leo Access Burnet – the Orange’s advertising agency and the brains behind the advert – was named the respondent in the complaint.

The Committee found Orange’s advertising to be to some extent misleading and asked the firm to either pull it down or amend.

Orange now says it has edited the advert to be in line with ASC’s recommendation.

“In its ruling, the ASC… recommended that the “Do You Know” advertising campaign by Orange Telkom Kenya “be withdrawn from the media it is run on or edited in a manner stated by the Committee”… as a business, we chose the latter recommendation,” said Telkom Kenya in a statement yesterday.

“The ASC stated that the advertisement should be re-worded to make it clear; that it is a peak time comparison as opposed to a general comparison with an asterisk in small text to qualify the same.”

Orange further said the comparison made between the cost of its products and that of Safaricom was in line with Kenya’s advertising standards and code.

“Contrary also to some media reports, the Code does not bar comparative advertising… we have already adhered to the standards set by the Code on comparative advertising,” said Telkom Kenya.

Orange charges Sh2 for within network calls and Sh3 for calls to other networks, compared to Safaricom’s Sh4 for all calls. Orange’s tariffs are comparable to the offerings by other operators.

Orange started airing the advert early this year, in its bid to grow subscriber base and shed off the tag of being the smallest operator.

In the initial advert, the firm does not explicitly name Safaricom as the more expensive operator and instead refers it to the “other” and “that”.